Lithe Lord.

Dreadwing hates Lord Starscream. The fool! What’s there to hate about Lord Starscream?

We’ve actually taken a look at this design of Lord Starscream before. Let’s see how the design translates into a larger figure!

Vehicle mode

Starscream is a jet as usual. The jet mode top looks very broken up with a lot of panel lines but that’s a consequence of having such a stylised robot still need to transform into a real life vehicle mode. There’s an adequate amount of paint to pick out the jet mode details.

From the top and sides Starscream’s a nice jet. The profile is nice and slim so he looks like he’ll get to you fast. From the bottom however, it’s a different story. The legs and face are staring straight at you. There’s some landing nubs for the jet mode to rest on and they’re always deployed. For weapons, you can put his two missiles under his wings and his cannon on top of his cockpit.

Just use the missiles and forget the cannon.

Transformation

It’s complex but intuitive. Really, it’s involved but not frustrating at all. The second Prime line was criticized for simplifying the transformations and designs of the figures but it really did make the transformations less finicky as well as faster.

Robot mode

Starscream here seems to be a mix of Animated Starscream and Movie Starscream. Also, it seems this Lord Starscream literally has Movie Starscream’s face as a chest. That’s incredible. Starscream was quite monochrome on the show but this figure has quite a bit of painted detail and colour. The translucent purple arms and chest in particular make him stand out on a shelf. I like me some translucent plastic. Starscream also has a really nicely molded and painted head.

You can get a lot of poses out of Starscream. His head is ball-jointed and has a hinge joint at the base of the neck. Very expressive. His arms are ball-jointed at the shoulders. He has bicep swivels and elbows that can bend all the way. Like they let Starscream’s hands touch his shoulders. Oh, his hands are ball-jointed too. He doesn’t have a waist joint but he does bend forward at the crotch. It’s kind of a psuedo-ab crunch. His legs rotate as well as go in and out at the hips. He has thigh swivels and knee bends. His feet go forward and back.

Gimmicks

Voyagers from the Prime Robots In Disguise line all had a “Mechtech” weapon that lit up and transformed. That sounds awesome but it really isn’t. The “default” weapon mode just does not look like a weapon of any sort. It’s just random parts. While the “transformed” weapon mode looks really good (at least Starscream’s), it can’t stay in position. Also, all the Voyagers have translucent plastic on their bodies. This is so that the light in the weapon can illuminate those parts. This light piping actually works quite well on Starscream but he has translucent purple plastic while the weapon lights up red. The mismatch of colours is a problem with the whole line but it’s worth mentioning.

Toy or collectible?

Voyager Starscream here is more suited for adult collectors but an older child would have a great time with him. The two modes are great and the transformation isn’t infuriating. The light piping gimmick is also pretty neat. If a child was 11 years old or above, I’d be comfortable giving this iteration of Lord Starscream to them.

Adult collectors have a problem. Starscream actually has two collector oriented figures for the Prime series. This one and the First Edition one. This version of Starscream is usually available at half the price of the First Edition one. Keep in mind, this is a Voyager and the First Edition is a Deluxe. Based on pictures, it seems like they both look equally good in robot mode. It’s just this guy is bigger and has translucent plastic. I think the First Edition is better in scale with other figures from the Prime line but having Lord Starscream at Voyager size doesn’t look too out of place. You’re gonna have to make a choice here. Wanna know mine? I’m getting both of them.

Closing?

This is an excellent iteration of Lord Starscream and deserves a place in everyones collection. The brilliant on-screen design is translated very well onto the figure. This is a tall, satisfying and fun action figure that’s affordable at some not insane prices. I got this Lord Starscream for RM60 ($15) loose and complete. For reference, the last loose and complete First Edition Starscream I saw for sale was RM120 ($30).

Praise the value for money Lord Starscream! 12/10 stars!